2009 top ten news
The big ten books of 2009
By Liu Jun and Mei Jia (China Daily)
Updated: 2009-12-29 08:53
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6. Yuan Weimin and China's Sports (袁偉民與體壇風云), by Yuan Shan
This memoir from Yuan Weimin, former president of the General Administration of Sport of China, has caused much controversy, as it not only recalls moments of glory and pride, but also lifts the lid on an array of buried stories.
The book reveals China's journey to the Olympic Games, anti-doping incidents and controversies about He Zhenliang, former vice-president of the International Olympic Committee.
Yuan has become a legend ever since he led the Chinese women's volleyball team to become world champions in the 1980s. At a time when China had just emerged from decades of chaos and sought world recognition, millions of Chinese rejoiced when watching live broadcasts of these volleyball victories.
The debate over the book is still raging. The mysterious "author" is said to be a team of four sports insiders.
7. When the Sound of Color Tastes Sweet (當彩色的聲音嘗起來是甜的), by Science Squirrels club
Acclaimed as the "funniest science book" of the year, the work has 54 articles carefully selected from thousands of posts by "squirrels" at the Science Squirrels club (songshuhui.net). Ji Shishan, who has a PhD in neurobiology, founded the club in 2007.
The Science Squirrel club website gets 50,000 hits a day and has attracted more than 90 young talents to the community of popular science writing, lectures and parties.
Like a squirrel cracking the nut and savoring the kernel, "science squirrels" convert obscure technical jargon and theories into funny layman's Chinese, such as why earphone leads get twisted when you put them in your pocket, and more complex subjects such as China's space exploration project.
8. Dwelling Narrowness (蝸居), by Liu Liu
This is a novel that has swept the Chinese book market in the closing two months of the year with its realistic portrayal of the lives and struggles of young urbanites, in the face of soaring housing price.
With all the controversy attracted by the 33-episode TV series Dwelling Narrowness, the original novel published two years ago, is seeing a new round of success. The debate triggered by the TV version is pushing more readers to return to the novel for answers of their own.
The novel centers on the lives of two sisters caught in the spiral of rising housing prices in Shanghai. There is Guo Haizao, who, under financial pressure, sacrifices love to becomes the mistress of a married government official, and Guo Haiping, whose life is a desperate struggle to own an apartment of her own.
Most readers find they can relate to the issues faced by the protagonists. These so-called "house slaves" are pushed to the limit paying back their mortgages, and often end up dipping into their parents' earnings. This is a book close to their hearts.
9. Our Taiwan in These Years (我們臺灣這些年), by Liao Hsin-chung
Liao Hsin-chung, a Taiwan office worker in Shanghai, surprised many with a collection of his anecdotes, first posted on Tianya, an online community.
Cross-Straits ties have improved significantly in recent years and the mainland is now the second-largest source of tourists to the island after Japan. As a result, a new wave of mutual interest is growing. Liao's book, which looks at the last three decades in Taiwan, from the point of view of an ordinary resident, has tapped into this growing interest.
Part of the book's appeal is how it is peppered with pop references, like romance novelist Qiong Yao's TV dramas and the "Four Heavenly Kings".
One anecdote describes how books by French writer Emile Zola were once banned in Taiwan, because the Chinese translation of his name has the characters "zuo" (left), which the authorities thought implied subversion. After the ban was lifted, his books sold more than 300,000 copies in just one month.
10. No Monuments (無碑), by Wang Shiyue
Time magazine has named the Chinese worker as "person of the year" for 2009. Wang Shiyue's new novel delves into the lives of migrant workers. Born in 1972, Wang draws on his own experience as a worker in Guangdong province for more than 20 years, to give an intimate account of the huge social changes he witnessed.
Through the main protagonist Li Baoyun, Wang writes about the migrant workers' contributions and sacrifices, and their sense of loss over the disappearance of their ties to the Earth and their fading dreams. For the generations of the nameless workers who have made China's astonishing growth possible, Wang attempts to build monuments with his words.
Literary critic Chen Fumin, a research fellow at Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, says the novel is the most original voice rising from this group. The novel, he says, is unique for striking a balance between all-consuming rage and glorification with regard to the farmer-turned-worker.
